There is great need for purified water. Water demands are increasing worldwide, while water sources are becoming increasingly rare. Hence, any inexpensive method that can convert salt water to potable water would be extremely valuable. In very confined environments such as space vehicles or submarines where fresh water sources are scarce, water purification and recycling can be critically important. A method that converts “used” water—such as, black water, gray water, waste water, or even urine—into drinking water, is invaluable.
Likewise, there is a need for improved and alternative techniques for separating solutes, suspended particles, bio-organisms, etc., from aqueous mixtures, suspensions, and solutions—not necessarily to obtain pure water, but to collect and concentrate the non-aqueous components, e.g., to collect a product or for qualitative and quantitative analysis.